'How modern Chinese history helps us understand China’s present and future'
One of the most powerful tools for understanding China today is to interpret its history: modern history of war and revolution, ancient history encompassing longstanding ethical and philosophical trends, and histories of ideology including nationalism and Marxism. We will hear how these strands interweave and shape the contemporary face of a global China.
Rana Mitter is ST Lee Chair in US-Asia Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School. He has written extensively on modern China. His most recent book is China’s Good War: How World War II is Shaping a New Nationalism (Harvard, 2020). He won the 2020 Medlicott Medal for Service to History, awarded by the UK Historical Association. He was previously Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China at Oxford, and Director of the China Centre.
